A Surprising Day
by steelefan
Summary: Cruz Ramirez is having quite an interesting day winning races and getting signed onto Dinoco. so what could Jackson Storm possibly want?


Cruz Ramirez crossed the finish line in first place; happy as can be. She had just won the Florida 500! That was unheard of in a new driver; especially one that had never raced professionally in NASCAR.

Cruz was thrilled to say the least. She felt like she could do anything now that she just won a real professional race. As the crowd cheered for her, other racers drove past her giving her their congratulations and even joking around with her a bit. Never in her life did she think she'd actually get a second chance to do the one thing she always dreamed of doing, and it was all thanks to her new friend Lightning McQueen.

With a smile on her face and cheering all around, Cruz drove over to the Rusteze team. Once there she got her congrats from everyone- even Sterling who then offered her the chance to race for the team officially. Cruz declined however, stating that she would never race for Sterling now that she and everybody else knew what he was really in the business for- money. After denying Sterling's offer, Mister Tex Dinoco offered to sign her on as the new face of Dinoco which she accepted rather quickly. Things couldn't be going better for her, she got the chance to race, beat Jackson Storm and get first place, and her own racing sponsor.

Now that the hype was starting to die down, racers and their crews all started to pack up and leave for their next destinations. Though Rusteze was just about all packed away, Cruz was off talking to some of the racers. Since many of the racers congratulated her, she wanted to send her thanks to the others and maybe get to know some of them in the process.

After talking to many of the racers, Cruz was making her way back to her friends. As she was passing Jackson storm's trailer however, she stopped. Inside the trailer there was lots of yelling; and one of the voices sounded like Jackson. Cruz listened carefully.

"Storm you can't just slam into other racers like that it's against the rules! Are you trying to lose our sponsorship and everyone you've built up!?"

"How many times do I need to say I'm sorry!? I got caught up in the moment, I was mad and I just acted without thinking!"

"You don't do much thinking do you?"

"If all you're gonna do is yell then just leave me alone!"

Jackson lowered the door for the trailer and quickly drove out only to be nose to nose with the very car that bested him; Cruz Ramirez. Jackson's angered scowl quickly changed into one of surprise and embarrassment as he backed up slightly.

Cruz sat there with an equal look of shock and stuttered as she tried to speak. "I… I'm sorry… I didn't…. I wasn't…." her thoughts were too mixed up to speak with any context.

Jackson sighed and spoke with much more ease than Cruz had. "It's fine. We were being loud I know." he started to drive away from her.

"Wait!" Cruz yelled.

Jackson stopped without turning around. He spoke in the same emotionless voice he always had. "What."

Cruz drove up to the race car who just looked at her with his eerie gray eyes. "Are you ok? You guys sounded pretty mad in there."

"Yes I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Jackson said as he went to drive around her.

Cruz shrugged. "No problem. See you at the next race." she then proceeded to drive away when she heard Jackson call for her and quickly drive up to her. She smirked knowing that's exactly what she thought he'd do.

Jackson quickly drove in front of her and looked her in the eye. "That's it? You aren't gonna try and force it out of me?"

"Why would I? You clearly don't wanna talk to me; and it's pretty obvious based on these scratches you aren't too fond of me in general." Cruz stated.

Jackson shifted his gaze to look down to the right. "Sorry." his voice was hardly a whisper but Cruz heard it and was slightly taken aback.

"Excuse me?" Cruz said.

Jackson fixed his gaze back onto her. "I said sorry. Don't act like you didn't hear me in the trailer when I said I was pretty heated on the track."

"I just wasn't exactly expecting you of all cars to apologize to me." Cruz said with a little giggle at the end.

"Yeah well a lot of things happened today neither one of us knew would happen." Jackson said indifferently.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Cruz said with a smile. "Anyway, I should probably head back to my friends; they'll be wondering where I snuck off too."

Cruz turned to leave when yet again Jackson stopped her.

"Wait."

Cruz turned back to Jackson. He looked like he was searching deep down in himself for something and Cruz had to admit, she was more than curious to know what it was.

Jackson sighed and looked at her. This time those empty gray eyes seemed to show some emotion other than coldness. "I'm really sorry about what I did to you out there today. What I did was a lot worse than just taunts and general rudeness."

Cruz drove back up to Jackson now with a happy look on her face. This was something totally new to her. Since coming into the sport Jackson Storm was known to be one of the most nasty cars to talk to in all of racing history. Than it hit her: what if he had just now become aware of it? She needed to hear more of what he had to say, the others would have to wait for now.

"Go on." Cruz said in a happy tone.

Jackson shifted his left front tire a little on the pavement and continued speaking. "After the race, everyone just kept telling me what a dirty trick I pulled. No one had a single nice thing to say; not that I deserved it."

Cruz just nodded and continued to listen. This was a side of Storm not many cars knew existed. Storm was supposed to be this cocky racer who didn't care about anything; guess that's over.

"The reporters didn't wanna come near me, other racers kept their distance. But you know what really made it sink in? What really made me look at myself differently? My crew chief. He's always been really supportive of everything I did; even the dirty stuff. This time was different though. This time when he saw me after the race he was so mad at me. He yelled at me about everything I did and how I could lose everything. But it was what he said about my social life that killed me. He told me how I really didn't have any friends; how I don't talk to any of the racers or anyone else for that matter. He told me how I'm really just a lonely, moody car… and he's right…" Jackson felt a single tear roll off his hood.

Cruz sat there in utter astonishment. Here he was, the great jackson Storm reduced to tears in front of her. She felt horrible for him. Cruz remembered the stories about how Lightning landed himself in a similar situation back before he met Doc and the other Radiator springs townies. Now that she saw Jackson in the same position, she had a pretty good idea of what to do next.

"Jackson. That isn't true at all. You do have one friend. Me." Cruz said happily.

Jackson looked at her and couldn't help but feel a smile creep across his face. "Really? You wanna give me a second chance?"

"Of course I do! Jackson if it weren't for second chances neither I or Lightning would be here today. Second chances are probably the best chances you can give someone! A second chance is a time to prove yourself better than you were before. So what do you say? Wanna be friends?" Cruz said with a giggle.

Jackson let out a small chuckle and sniffled in the last of the tears. "You know Cruz… you're one great girl; and one hell of a racer. I'm gonna decline your offer though."

Cruz's smile instantly faded away. "Oh.."

"I'm turning you down on your offer because I don't want you to be my friend." Jackson said with a smile.

"Yeah… I figured that out thanks." Cruz said sadly.

Cruz then went to drive away when Jackson spoke up again.

"I don't want you to be my friend because I want to go on a date with you." Jackson said.

Cruz stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Jackson with a look of confusion. "Pardon me?"

Jackson laughed and drove up to Cruz's side and gently leaned against her. "You think I'm gonna pretend you don't look amazing in this little costume here? Or that you have the best personality out of every girl I have ever spoken too?"

"I… I… I guess not…?" Cruz said bewildered.

Jackson then stopped and drove in front of Cruz to look into her eyes. "I really like you Cruz. You have such a great attitude towards everything. Even though I was really mad on the track, your little "riding my butt" drafting joke was pretty funny. Not to mention you're the first car to really wanna be friends with me for something other than what I've done on the track."

Cruz gazed at the ground, then at Jackson. She had to admit, Jackson was pretty cute. He had a great paintjob, attractive body, and now on top of that: a decent, if not good personality.

Jackson sighed. "Cruz you won't need to give me a second chance on this one, all I need is one and I'll make sure you never regret it." His voice was full of passion and seriousness. There was no denying he meant everything he was saying.

"Ok Jackie. You wanna date me?" Cruz asked.

"More than anything." Jackson said.

Cruz then moved in towards the race car and gently kissed him on the lips. "Then I accept your offer."

Jackson smiled and nuzzled her for a moment. "Then after our next race, I'm taking you out to dinner, anywhere you want, my treat."

Cruz giggled. "I'd certainly hope so."

Jackson kissed cruz one more time. "Then I'll see you at our next race. Travel safely! Keep that paint nice for me."

"Will do! Try not to blow your engine trying to keep up with me once we get there!" Cruz said with a laugh.

Jackson laughed and started to drive back to his trailer. "Love you Costume Girl!"

"Love you too Jackson!" Cruz said happily.

Both cars then made their way back to their teams, each with a big smile on their faces.


End file.
